Railway signal apparatus



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W. W. GARY, R-ailwaysignal Apparatus. No. 240,695. Patented April 26,1881;

NFEIERS. PHDTO-UTNOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON u. c.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WVESLEY W. GARY, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts have invented an Improvement in Railway Signal Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to railway signal apparatus, and has for its object to produce an automatic winding mechanism to wind up a weight or spring or equivalent mechanical actuating force by the action of a passing train, the said weight or actuating force being in tended to operate signal mechanism of any desired kind-as, for example, bellsor signaldisks, semaphore-arms, &c.

In several forms of signal apparatus now in use for railroad purposes, signals of various kinds, visual or audible, are operated by mechanism controlled automatically by the passing trains, usually by means of electric currents. Such mechanism is usually actuated by some mechanical force, as that of gravity, acting on a weight or the force of a spring, and such force, when exhausted, as by the weight running down, has to be renewed, usually by an attendant winding the said weight or spring, in the usual manner. This winding is by my invention performed by the passing train, so that the actuating-power, as well as the control of the signals,is derived from the trains, the extra signaling operation being thus made automatic, so that when once in place the signals will continue to operate properly without the need of any attendants.

In this embodiment of my invention the actuating-power for operating the signaling mechanism is shown as a weight attached to a cord passed over a pulley and wound on a UNITED STATE L drum, the said weight, in falling underthe.

PATENT ()FFICE.

WESLEY W. GARY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY SIGNAL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,695, dated April 26, 1881.

Application filed October], 1880. (No model.)

alent part connected with the weight or spring to be wound, and wind it in its backward movement, made under the action of the spring. A disengaging device is employed to throw the winding mechanism out of engagement with the said winding-drum when it has completed its movement under the action of the spring, to thus leave the said drum free to rotate in the opposite direction as the weight runs down and actuates the signal mechanism. Another automatic disengaging device is employed to retain the winding mechanism disengaged from the winding shaft or drum through its entire movement after it has completely wound up the weight or spring, to thereby prevent injury to the mechanism by overwinding.

In the present embodiment of my invention the windingmechanism is operated bya treadle placed beside and normally slightly elevated above the level of the rail, in position to be struck and depressed by the tread or flanges of the car-wheels. The said treadleisconnected with a rock-shaft, extended outward from the rail and provided at its other end with a windin g-arm, acted upon by a spring to draw it and the connected shaft and treadle into position to elevate the said treadle above the level of the track. 'When a wheel passes over the treadle it depresses it, rocks the shaft, and vibrates the winding-arm connected therewith,

straining the said spring, which, as soon as the wheel has passed over the treadle, draws back the said arm and connected parts to their original position. In this manner the winding-arm receives a vibratory movement as the trainpasses. To the extremity of the said arm is connected a winding-bar provided with inclined teeth. to engage correspondingteeth in a ratchet-wheel on the winding-drum. The inclination of the said teeth is such that when I the arm causes the toothed bar to vibrate under the action of a wheel depressing the lever, the said bar slips over the teeth of the ratchet-wheel without turning it; but when it vibrates back under the stress of the springit engages the said teeth and winds the weight or spring. I

It will be seen that the power brought upon the mechanism to wind it is that of the spring, which should be of the proper strength to perform this work, and that any shock derived from the sudden blow of the rapidly-passing wheel is not transmitted to the mechanism, but merely acts upon the said yielding spring.

An incline on the end of the toothed bar comes, at the end of its movement caused by the action of the spring, into contact with a disengaging device, by which the said bar is raised out of engagement with the windingratchet, leaving the weight of the spring free to run down. A second disengaging device controlled by the running mechanism, herein shown as the weight itself, raises the bar out of engagement with the winding-ratchet as soon as the weight or spring is wholly wound up, so that any succeeding wheels that may pass merely cause the said bar to vibrate without affecting the mechanism to overwind it.

' I do not broadly claim a disengaging device to prevent overwinding, as I am aware that such have been previously used in apparatus of this nature.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an automatic winding mechanism embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof, showing in full lines the toothed winding-bar in the position assumed when the treadle is depressed by'a wheel, and in the lower dotted lines in its normal position assumed when it has completed its winding stroke under the action of the spring, the treadle being disengaged from the wheel, the upper lines showing it when automatically disengaged during its entire movement from the winding-ratchet to prevent overwinding of the weight; and Fig. 3, a perspective view of thewinding-treadle, the rock-shaft and arm connected therewith, and the tooth winding-bar.

- The treadle a on one end of a rock-shaft, b, pivoted at c in suitable frame-work supported on the road-bed, is placed beside the rail d in suitable position to be struck and depressed by the tread of the wheels passing over the said rails d. At the other end of the rockshaft 1) is the winding-arm 0, connected with the spring f, the tendency of which is to draw the arm e and connected shaft b and treadle a into the position shown in Fig. 1, with the said treadle above the level of the track in position to be depressed by the passing wheels, the arm 6 being then against the stop 6.

At the end of the arm 6 is pivoted the winding-bar 9, provided with inclined teeth to engage the teeth of the ratchet-wheel hon the drumc', upon which is wound the cord j, which passes over the pulley 7a and supports at its extremity the weight 1. The bar 1 has an inclined or cam-shaped surface, 2, at its end, which, when the bar is drawn to its extreme forward position by the spring f, raises the said bar out of engagement with the ratchetwheel h, as shown in dotted lines at 3 in Fig. 2. The bar g is connected by the cord 11. with a disengaging-lever, o, pivoted at 4, near the pulley k, in such position that the weight I,

65. just before reaching the said pulley, engages the said lever o and raises it, and thereby,

through the connector it, raises the bar 9 entirely out of engagement with the ratchet h, as shown in dotted lines at 5, Fig. 2.

The pulley or the drum '5 may be connected with the running mechanism of a signal apparatus of any desired kindas, for instance, a repeating-gong or a rotating or vibratory signal disk or arm-the movement of the said mechanism being controlled, in any usual manner, by suitable detents and electro-magnets.

The operation is as follows; When a train passes, each wheel, on coming to the treadle a, depresses the same, and thereby rocks the shaft 1), and vibrates the arm 0 and barg to the position shown in full lines, Fig. 2, the teeth of the said bar in this movement passing over those of the ratchet h withoutt-urning the said ratchet, owing to their inclined shape. As soon as the wheel has passed the gspring f draws back the arm 6 and connected shaft and treadle to their original position, the bar 9 in this movement engaging the teeth; of and rotating the ratchet h to turn the drum 6, wind the cord j thereon, and raise the weight I. At the end of this movement the inclined end 2 of the said bar comes against the disengagingfin m,which raises it to disengage its teeth from those of the ratchet h, to. thus leave the drum 1; free to rotate as the weight 1 runs down in actuating the signal mechanism. As each wheel passes the bar 9 is caused to vibrate in this manner, and thus wind up the cord j and connected weight Z. When the said weight arrives at the end of its upward movement it comes against the lever 0 and raises it, and by the connector 42 also raises the bar 9, so that its teeth will no longer engage those of the ratchet h in any position of the said bar, so that any further movement of the treadle a, under the action of the succeeding wheels, will have no effect on the ratchet h to further wind the weight Z, and thusinjuretheconnectedmechanism. Assoon as the weight is again run down a short distance, the lever 0 and connected bar 9 will fall to their normal position, and in all cases the bar 9 normally rests on the pin m, disengaged from the ratchet h, except when actually operatin g to rotate the said ratchet.

It is obvious that this winding apparatus could be equally well employed to wind a spring which might, for example, be coiled in a barrel occupying the place of the winding-drum '5, and in such a case a pin or cam-projection on the end of the said barrel, or on a wheel geared thereto, might be arranged to come beneath and raise the bar 9 out of engagement when the spring was wholly wound.

I claim- 1. In an automatic winding apparatus for railway-signals, the following elements in combination: a treadle adapted to be moved in one direction by the wheels of a passing train, a spring to move it in the other direction, and mechanism connected with the said treadle,

.constructed and arranged as described, to engage and wind an actuator in the movement of the treadle caused by the spring, and to be disengaged therefrom in its movement caused by the positive action of the wheels of the train, to thereby prevent a sudden shock or strain from being brought upon the mechanism, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic winding apparatus for railway-signals, a winding device and a spring to operate it, and mechanism whereby the said device is vibrated positively in one direction by a passing train, and in the other direction to wind the actuator by the spring, combined with a disengaging device to disengage thesaid winding device from the actuator at the end of its movement made under the action of the spring, to thereat'ter leave the said actuator free to run down and actuate the mechanism, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the treadle to be operated by the wheels of a passing train, a rock shaft and arm thereon connected with and operated by the said treadle, and a spring to restore the said mechanism to its normal position after the wheel has operated it, with a toothed bar connected with and reciprocated by the said arm, and a winding-drum provided with a ratchet-wheel properly arranged to be engaged by the said bar in its movement caused by the spring, substantially as described.

4. The toothed winding-bar provided with an inclined or cam surface, rock-shaft, spring, and treadle to operate it, combined with the ratchetwheel rotated by the said windingbar and the disengaging-pin to engage the cam-surface of said bar and disconnect its teeth from those of the ratchet, substantially as described.

5. The weight and cord to suspend it, and winding-drum upon which the said cord is wound, combined with a ratchet connected with the said drum, and a reciprocating toothed bar to operate the said ratchet, the lifting-lever 0, and the connector a between the said lever and bar, whereby the said bar is raised out of engagement with the said ratchet when the weight has arrived at the end of its upward movement, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

wnsLnY w. GARY.

Witnesses J os. P. LIVERMORE, ARTHUR REYNOLDS. 

